Seal.



T. F. COUGHLIN.

SEAL.

APPLICATION HLED m3. 10. 1915.

1,181,743. 1 Patentvd May 2,1916.

Iii 1 WITNESSES M/VE/V 177i? a By A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TIMOTHY F. COUGHLIN, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

SEAL.

Application filed February 10, 1915.

'seals used in sealing the locks of cars, safes.

and-in fact any other desired deyice which it is desired to seal against opening by anyone, and has for an object to provide an improved structure which must be broken before the same can be removed.

Another object in view is to provide a seal which the loose end of the wire is adapted to be threaded when placing th seal in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a seal formed of lead or similar material, and of wire, and so arrange the embedded end of the wire that one or more loops are utilized and arranged to surround the aperture through which the free end of the wire is passed when placing theseal in position so that upon the pressing or collapsing of the seal, loops will become interlocked with the looseend of the wire and thus prevent positively any movement thereof.

In the accompanying drawingsFigure l is a fragmentary view of a car showing a lock provided with a seal embodying the invention: Fig. 2 is a front view of a seal embodying the invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the embedded end of the wire with the lead shown in dotted lines; Fig. 4

is a section through Fig. 2 on line l-e. the

same being on an enlarged scale; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the relation of the loops with the body of the wire when the lead is partly compressed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by numerals, 1 indicates a car any desired construction and a lock also of any desired construction. Entwined inthe lock 2 is the usual wire 3 or he seal 2. both ends of the wire 3 being emu lded in the seal t when the same is properly placed in position and pressed by the usual form of pliers. In some forms of seals which have been used heretofore the lead is merely pressed around the wire which will hold the same unless some movement is given the wire, whereupon the wire will gradually work Specification of Letters Patent. I

Patented Ma 2, 191a.

Serial No. 7,278.

loose and thus make the seal of no effect. The present invention is intended to over-- come this objection by the provision ot/bne or more loops 5 (Fig. 3) arranged in the end of the wire 3 which is permanently embedded in the lead body 6. These loops are intended to fit around the aperture or hole 7 in body 6 so that when the loose end 8 of the wire 3 is threaded through aperture 7 and then the body 6 collapsed as shown in Fig. 5, the loops or coils 5 will be pressed downwardly and caused to interlock with the .various parts of wire 3. Wire 3 is preferably a wire having a plurality of strands, as for instance a'wire having a large central strand 9 and one or more auxiliary strands formed of wire having a looped end through 10 which provide raised portions. These raised portions present projections or means for allowing not only the interlocking of the loops 5 but of the lead forming the body 6. The aperture 7 is preferably inclined as shown in Fig. 4. By this construction and arrangement it will be observed that both ends of the wire are interlocked in such a way as not to be readily disengaged even though the body (3 was eliminated.

It will be evident that the seal may he used at any desired place and not only for car locks. The idea intended is to provide a. seal which positively cannot be opened and then again closed without detection. By arranging the loops as shown in Fig. 3 so thatthey will be embedded as hown in Fig. 4, an interlocking or intern ring of the wire will result as shown in Fig. which in turn will prevent even an authorized person from removing the seal unless the same is broken. )1 back and forth movement of the end 8 of the sealing wire will not be sufiicient to loosen the wire so that the same may be removed as in the case of anlordinary lead seal. 1

In forming the body 6 preferably lead is used or some similar material. but it will be evident that other materials could he used instead of lead without departing from the spirit of the invention provided they had substantially the same characteristics. and the expression lead in this specification is to be understood as covering several substitutes.

\Vhat I claim is A seal of the character described, comprising a sealing wire formed from a central enlarged wire and extra wires wrapped around the central enlarged Wire, the loops of the extra wires being spaced apart so. as to provide rais'ed portions, said sealing Wire being formed with a plurality of loops, :1 soft metal body surrounding said loops, said soft metal body being provided with an opening extending through said loops for receiving a loose end of said wire said opening and the general direction of said loops being at such, an angle that one end of the opening and one end of the loops will be nearer one end of said body than the other hereby when said soft metal body and said loops are crushed or pressed the loops will become interlocked with the raised portions of said wire for providing a lock which cannot be worked loose.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

TIMOTHY F. COUGHLIN.

lVitnesses JOSEPH V. HOBAX, VILLIAM J. BRENNAN. 

